Legacy can't be business as usual.
Marvel Comics has been following a pretty clear pattern in recent years. First, they ring in the summer with a major crossover event, one that wraps with major status quo changes for the Marvel Universe. Those changes feed into the company's big, annual relaunch, as old books are cycled out and new ones are created in order to offer readers fresh #1 issues and new jumping-on points. This predictable cycle has helped provide regular boosts to Marvel's sales figures, though there are also clear signs that the company is facing diminishing returns with each new relaunch.
The hope is that Marvel's 2017 relaunch, Marvel Legacy, will be different. Much like DC did with Rebirth last year, Marvel is using Legacy as a way of refocusing their attention on their core characters and generally taking a more "back to basics" approach. That's all fine and well, but I'm not optimistic that Legacy will be able to do for Marvel what Rebirth has done for DC. Yesterday's underwhelming reveal of the 52 Marvel Legacy books suggested that it's going to be business as usual for Marvel.
On paper, Legacy sounds exactly like what Marvel needs at the moment. "A new initiative that will take things back to our iconic history, with a firm eye on the future, Marvel Legacy will present stories that remind everyone — newcomers and longtime fans alike — why Marvel stands as the premier name in fiction,” said Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso in a recent press release. “Our titles will unearth gems from Marvel’s rich history, remind readers of connections between characters, and usher in the return of some major characters who’ve been missed. Above all else, we want to inject our comics with a massive dose of fun!"
That's all fine and well, but the proof is in the pudding. And right now the pudding seems to be the same meal Marvel has been feeding us for the past several years. Of the 52 Legacy books revealed this week, all but six of them appear to be direct continuations of titles Marvel is publishing right now. Of those six, two (Incredible Hulk and She-Hulk) still have clear analogues in the current lineup (Totally Awesome Hulk and Hulk, respectively). So that leaves a measly four books that are bringing something new to the table - Spirits of Vengeance, The Falcon, Marvel Two-In-One and Moon Knight. And even Moon Knight had his own book as recently as a couple months ago.
Judging from the comments section in our Marvel Legacy roundup and the general reaction on Twitter, I'm far from the only one feeling disappointed and underwhelmed by this announcement. Marvel has been talking a big game about how Legacy will revamp the Marvel Universe in a major way, shine a spotlight on classic heroes and celebrate the company's past while looking ahead to the future. It's difficult to see from this announcement how Legacy is actually living up to that promise. Given the relative lack of new titles debuting as part of Legacy, this relaunch actually seems less ambitious than Marvel NOW or All-New, All-Different Marvel. Basically, it seems like Marvel is putting a new coat of paint on the car rather than actually opening up the hood and repairing the engine.
How is any of this supposed to appeal to disenfranchised Marvel readers or create the impression that Marvel is righting the ship? What about this lineup of 52 books even suggests that Marvel is renewing its focus on its classic heroes? There's no sign of Steve Rogers or Thor Odinson or Bruce Banner or the wayward members of the Fantastic Four or any of the numerous dead X-Men characters people are pining for. There's a bizarre disparity between Marvel's Legacy teaser images, which feature a healthy mix of classic and newer heroes, and the characters actually featured in these 52 books.
Not to mention the understandable confusion a lot of readers were feeling yesterday. With no creative teams or plot details being revealed for these 52 new books, it's tough to know what to take away from these animated covers in the first place. Are we seeing teases for what's to come for Marvel's heroes, or merely images paying tribute to classic Marvel covers of yesteryear? You could be forgiven for thinking that Marvel Legacy is nothing more than another variant cover promotion along the lines of the Marvel Hip-Hop covers or the upcoming Jim Lee X-Men variant covers.
To be fair, we can only judge Legacy so much based on the limited information we have right now. A lot is riding on the creative team reveals. Even if Marvel's actual book lineup changes little between now and this fall, having some new creative blood in the mix could work wonders. I'd love to see Marvel reach out to creators who have drifted away from the company in recent years (Jonathan Hickman, Kieron Gillen, Matt Fraction, etc.) while also putting the spotlight on up-and-coming creators. That's been one of the big successes of DC Rebirth over the past year, with DC extending an olive branch to Greg Rucka and Christopher Priest while offering a bigger platform for writers like Benjamin Percy and Joshua Williamson.
And its safe to say there are still a few surprises to be had in the Legacy lineup. With Secret Empire still ongoing and the Marvel Legacy #1 special promising to bring back at least one major, dormant character, there have to be a few books Marvel isn't willing to reveal just yet. Plus, the new Runaways series was strangely absent from this lineup, but we know that's debuting in September.
I want to be optimistic that Legacy can help put Marvel back on track and do for the company what Rebirth has done for DC. There are some very obvious comparisons to be drawn between the two relaunches, as both are centered around that "honor the past, embrace the future" mentality. But Rebirth is about more than making specific status quo changes or altering team rosters or reverting to certain books to legacy numbering. Rebirth is a meta-story that acknowledges that things went wrong at DC during the New 52 and makes the very effort to address those mistakes into one of the biggest and most important tales the company has ever told.
That's really what Marvel needs right now. The Marvel Universe is feeling increasingly aimless of late, and the steadily dropping sales are proof that readers are growing more and more unhappy with the company's direction. Marvel needs a big story that can re-energize their universe and get readers excited again. Maybe Legacy can be that story, but there's little reason to hope given what we've seen so far. Right now, Legacy is shaping up to be just another in a long line of Marvel relaunches.
Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
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